


I See You

by LibbyWrites



Category: One Direction (Band), liam payne - Fandom, zayn malik - Fandom
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Stargazing, ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 16:30:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,796
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17790851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibbyWrites/pseuds/LibbyWrites
Summary: After a little silence decorated only by the music coming from inside the building, Zayn spoke again, looking at the sky. “Do you ever wonder where they are?” he asked in a low tiny voice, longing, resigned.Liam looked down at the streets below them, biting his tongue. They’d had this conversation countless times, and the answer was pretty much always the same. He knew what he was supposed to say, but deep down he knew that lately he found himself wondering why the fuck Zayn wasn’t his soulmate instead of where the actual one was.





	I See You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ziam_Time](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ziam_Time/gifts).



> This is my Valentine's Gift Exchange gift for Ziam_Time! I hope you like it!
> 
> As always, thanks to my beta [Marea](http://marea707.tumblr.com). I love you.

Liam turned his back to the crowd with a scowl and propped his elbows on the balcony, swirling what was left of his whisky in its fancy glass. It was quite chilly outside but at least the cold air helped clear his mind a bit.

He was usually okay with big social gatherings like the one he had just escaped but there was something about New Year parties at work that annoyed him. Or not, maybe it wasn’t annoyance, maybe it was sadness. Or maybe both, who the fuck knew anymore.

It was stupid, he knew that. He had more than enough reasons to celebrate, didn’t he? The past year had been a really great one. He was close to his tenth anniversary working for one of the most prestigious law firms in the country and he knew he should feel happy about that. He was one of the most successful lawyers in the firm, so successful he heard rumors his bosses were considering offering him a partner position.

He had almost everything he could ever want. This New Year’s party should be all about celebrating his accomplishments with his coworkers. It should be all about having fun and making new acquaintances and setting an example of camaraderie and partnership for the newer employees.

And the party was actually decent, okay? He had to admit the venue was lovely and the organizers had hired a pretty talented DJ for a change. The food was honest to god finger-licking good and the drinks were flowing. He was supposed to be inside, trying to pretend he wasn’t semi drunk, chatting, shaking hands, laughing, but… he just preferred being outside, on the freaking freezing balcony. Alone.

The party was perfect, yeah, but this time, as usual, the problem was him. The problem was that at his 35 years of age, Liam was one of the very few people he knew that hadn’t found their soulmate yet. That little issue definitely had the ability to put a dampener on whatever happiness he could have.

Fuck. He exhaled a deep sigh, his eyes lost in the view. New York’s lights and the clear night sky were a million times more interesting than what was going on behind him. It was the same sight, every year, every party.

Every single one of his co-workers having fun, holding hands with the love of their life, laughing, whispering sweet nothings in each other’s ears, being blatantly and unbearably happy. Ugh. So annoying. So painful.

No one really noticed Liam was the odd one out, alone, always alone. Maybe that’s what love does to people; it makes them blind to the rest of the world. Liam wouldn’t know, though, would he? The words he had imprinted on his skin since he was a kid had never been uttered to him, ever. He would give a fucking arm to hear them, to feel that magical connection people say they feel when their soulmate pronounce the words etched on their skin on their first encounter, but no.

No, no such luck. He was always the weird single guy. People usually found their soulmates when they were teenagers, so he was pretty sure everyone he knew pitied him for being alone at his age. It was incredibly unusual, some people even considered it a shame, a curse. People sure pitied him but still, Liam pitied himself more than them all.

He looked up, biting his lip. The night was beautiful, too fucking beautiful to be admired all by his lonesome. All the stars were shining, it was ridiculously romantic. He mumbled a curse at the moon, remembering how he used to dream of star-gazing with his soulmate when he was younger, when he still had hope. He was such an idiot, such a--“Hey, you,” a soft voice interrupted his self-loathing, bringing him back to reality in a fraction of a second.

His belly swooped as he turned around to see the owner of a voice he would know anywhere. Zayn. The new guy. Well, he wasn’t really new, he’d been in the company for over a year, but until someone newer was hired, he would remain ‘the new guy’ for anyone that asked. “Hi,” he replied, biting back his smile, trying to conceal his sudden excitement.

You see, the new guy was extremely problematic for Liam. He was gorgeous, for one. Ethereal. One of those people that shouldn’t be fucking real or even be allowed to walk amongst mortals. Liam chose to believe his beauty was the reason why he couldn’t stop his heart from beating faster every time he saw him, ever since that first time. That stupid first time.

He still remembered that day, so clearly. He remembered the way he felt when he first laid eyes on Zayn, the way his soul ached, his heart feeling like it grew ten sizes in a second. His body tingled as he watched his boss approaching his office with Zayn in tow, introducing him to everyone. Fuck, it felt too similar to what everyone described as their first encounter with their soulmates.

Liam remembered thinking that was it. It had to be it. His soulmate, finally. He had no idea how this gorgeous man was going to start their first conversation saying the words etched on his skin, but he _had_ to be it. He wanted Zayn to be his soulmate so badly.

But then Zayn opened his mouth and he said something else, some polite greeting when their boss introduced them to each other, and Liam’s heart sank, and… well, it hadn’t recovered. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Seeing Zayn every day at work was painful; painful and beautiful at the same time. He wished he could just stop obsessing over him, of the way he made him feel. He wished, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t help the deep crush he developed in time; he couldn’t help the fantasies or the need or the love.

Because yes, he kind of loved Zayn. It wasn’t unheard of, actually. He knew of people that never found their soulmate and settled for someone else, romantically or sexually. Apparently, people could feel something similar to love for someone they weren’t meant to be with, but considering it wasn’t their soulmate, it wasn’t as fulfilling, and maybe that was the reason why Liam never tried.

He always dreamed of that perfect love. He dreamed of that magical love story, he wanted exactly what everyone else around him had. He still wanted the real thing. Real love, real connection, a real bond, and that’s why he kept himself from trying with Zayn.

He could’ve, though. Unbelievably enough, Zayn was the only other person of their age he knew that still hadn’t found his soulmate, and that made it even worse somehow. If Zayn had been happy with someone else Liam felt maybe that would’ve kept his obsession in check, but no such luck.

Zayn was just as alone as he was, just as frustrated, and that made them develop some kind of weird, special friendship. Their own little Lonely Hearts Club Band, so to speak, where they could complain about their loneliness and daydream about how happy they would be when their actual soulmates showed up.

“I was wondering where you had gone,” Zayn smiled, leaning one arm on the balcony by Liam’s side, all graceful and soft and wonderful.

Liam laughed, shrugging. “I managed to find the only place in this building where there’s no couples slobbering all over each other’s faces. Go me!” he fake-cheered, raising a fist.

“Everyone is especially gross tonight, yeah,” Zayn agreed, throwing a disgruntled yet adorable little look inside, scrunching up his nose, before turning around to face Liam again.

Liam finished what was left of his whiskey and nodded, leaving the glass on the table behind him. “Yeah, the holidays in general make people extra gross for some reason,” he agreed, shrugging again. He knew that oh so well. It was probably the same mysterious reason why he always felt lonelier this time of year.

The sigh Zayn replied with let Liam know he wasn’t alone in that regard. He bit his lip and resumed looking at the stars, forcing himself not to look at the man by his side. He was way more breathtaking than any galaxy, but he knew looking at him would be stupid and dangerous in his state, semi-drunk and desperately sad.

After a little silence decorated only by the music coming from inside the building, Zayn spoke again, looking at the sky. “Do you ever wonder where they are?” he asked in a low tiny voice, longing, resigned.

Liam looked down at the streets below them, biting his tongue. They’d had this conversation countless times, and the answer was pretty much always the same. He knew what he was supposed to say, but deep down he knew that lately he found himself wondering why the fuck Zayn wasn’t his soulmate instead of where the actual one was. So stupid. “Yeah, I do…” he lied, pressing his lips in a line. “What do you think they’re doing?” he asked, looking up at the sky again, trying to stay on topic.

He felt Zayn turn to look at him by his side. “I dunno,” he whispered. “Thinking about us like we think about them, I hope,” he added. Liam had to bite his lip, because the only person he was thinking about was not that tacit soulmate he should be thinking about. In his dreams and fantasies, he had a hard time telling the two apart. That man that would make him happy forever always had Zayn’s face and that was so pathetic he wanted to cry. Fuck.

“Yeah, they better be thinking about us,” he muttered anyways, shaking his head. He needed to let this go, soon. There was nothing worse than a soulmate-less man pining after the only other single adult he knows, even knowing it can’t end well for any one of them.

Another silence surrounded them, heavy and poignant for some reason, until Zayn broke it. “I wish it was easier,” he declared. That was a new one.

Liam’s elbows left their perch on the balcony. He stood straight, turning to look at Zayn, trying to move as casually as possible despite his confusion and curiosity. “What do you mean?” he asked, frowning. Everything about being lonely was hard, which part was he referring to?

“I wish we could choose,” Zayn explained, looking back at Liam with eyes so soft and honest and forlorn Liam needed to blame the way they made him feel on the alcohol he had drunk during the night. “I wish we could choose, you know? I… I wish I could just write whatever I wanted on my skin instead of… of _this_ ,” Zayn complained, angrily rubbing anxious fingers across the right cuff of his dress shirt.

Liam knew very well what was hidden behind the blue fabric. Zayn’s soulmate’s first words, words Liam had never seen. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one that felt it was better to hide those marks from the world, like a shitty tattoo you regret, or a scarlet letter.

A painful sigh left his lungs. He was lost in the intensity of Zayn’s eyes, his heart hurting, for Zayn and for himself. “I know…” he replied, looking at Zayn’s hands. Of course he knew. He totally related. He didn’t feel the need to change his words for many years, still hoping his soulmate would show up and say them, but then he met Zayn and he said something else and Liam felt like ripping his fucking skin off.

“I wish… I wish I could write ‘oh, fuck, sorry, hi Zayn, beautiful name!’ right here,” Zayn whispered with a broken voice, his fingers pressing on his wrist. And Liam froze.

Those were his words. The first words he said to Zayn. He remembered uttering that stupid compliment when their boss introduced them, after Zayn failed to say Liam’s words. The heartbreak had felt so real he tripped all over himself in an effort not to die, knocking a pencil holder off his desk. He blurted whatever his brain could muster, making a complete fool of himself, but hey, at least he had made Zayn laugh. That laugh was worth the embarrassment, worth the pain.

Now, over a year later, Zayn was standing before him, saying he wished those were the words on his skin. What the fuck. “What?” Liam asked, lifting his head to look at Zayn, his mouth hanging open in what felt like shock, but really shouldn’t be. He must’ve looked like an idiot. He had heard Zayn very clearly, and what he said wasn’t really that unexpected, but it still hit him like a truck.

There was always something there, between them. Something Liam thought was just him projecting at first. Something that felt much more mutual as time went by and they shared more and more moments and wishes and drinks and jokes. Something Liam interpreted as kind of like a cloud of desperation and ‘what if’s mixed with his own unrequited feelings, in a desperate attempt to hide from the complicated possibilities. But now? It was the first time any of them put it into words and Liam was too shaken to react. Was Zayn for real?

Zayn shrugged, looking away from Liam, pressing his lips in a thin line. “Nothing, I’m drunk,” he tried to explain, shaking his head like it was nothing, but Liam wasn’t fucking buying that. This wasn’t a revelation, not really. It was something Liam could’ve ignored just like all those other times but no. This time it was impossible to ignore. This time Zayn materialized imaginary things and he needed to know more.

He had no idea what would happen once whatever they felt was finally in the open, but he needed to understand. Maybe it was his pathetic desperate heart needing to know what it felt to hear a confession of love, or maybe it was just him selfishly needing to hear Zayn validate those things that made him feel crazy. Maybe it was dangerous and it would ruin everything, but he needed to know.

“No, you’re not drunk,” he demanded, the world around them completely forgotten as he took a step toward Zayn. He lifted a cautious hand to grab Zayn’s chin with two fingers, making him look at him as delicately as possible. “Zayn… What are you even saying?” Liam cringed at how desperately pleading his voice sounded. He didn’t even know what he was pleading for, every single thing he wanted to hear was simply impossible, potentially heartbreaking, catastrophic.

Zayn stayed silent for a moment, just looking into Liam’s eyes like he was desperately searching for something. God, Liam felt his legs turn to jelly, his heart beating like crazy, his entire body tingling. “Please don’t tell me I’m the only one that feels this…” Zayn begged, and Liam could’ve sworn there were tiny tears forming in his eyes, making them sparkle brighter than the stars above them.

Liam exhaled a shaky breath, feeling caught red handed, half ashamed and half pointlessly hopeful. It was stupid. All of this was stupid. He finally had Zayn in front of him, all open and honest, needing him, acknowledging there was something between them. It felt like a movie scene, but he knew it had a terrible ending, it felt so good but it was going to hurt so bad soon enough… Fuck…

He contemplated lying. It was pointless, after all. The concept of them wanting to be together not being soulmates was ridiculous. This pull Liam felt towards Zayn, especially now, knowing it was mutual? It was so strong and it felt so important, but it was ludicrous. And still, he couldn’t lie. Telling Zayn he didn’t feel the same was even worse, so he just shook his head slowly with a sigh. “You’re not…” he confirmed. Zayn was definitely not the only one.

“Why is this happening to us? Is this… is this just our loneliness speaking? Is this… I don’t understand, Liam,” Zayn cried, almost literally.

Liam’s heart felt like breaking in a million pieces. All he wanted to do was to hold Zayn, comfort him. All he wanted was to kiss him and find a way to make him happy forever, but… What would happen then? What if they never really felt happy and fulfilled with each other? What if they tried and then their soulmates showed up? No, he knew what he had to do, what was the right thing to do.

“I don’t understand either, but it doesn’t matter…” Liam whispered, getting closer to Zayn, taking his hand. “There’s someone out there that’s going to make you happy, Zayn, like, really happy,” he tried, forcing a smile, fucking hating the words coming out of his mouth because all he could feel was an overwhelming need of being that person, of personally making sure Zayn was the happiest man alive.

Zayn shook his head but he didn’t move, he stayed close to Liam, holding his hand. “Why do I keep feeling like I don’t want anybody else?” he asked with a broken voice, destroying Liam’s world and all of his arguments. Fuck.

Still, he had to insist. They weren’t soulmates, it would never work. He didn’t have the power to make Zayn happy, no matter how badly he wanted to. He needed to make sure Zayn waited for whoever was meant for him. “I… I know, but…” he struggled to take the words out of his mouth. They hurt, like razors against his tongue. They felt foreign, wrong. “I’m not your soulmate, Z,” he blurted out, feeling his chest contract.

“I know someday someone will come and say these words to you,” he promised, holding Zayn’s hand tighter, his thumb slowly finding its way under the fabric of his shirt, lovingly touching the marked skin. God, it felt so warm and soft and perfect it made him shiver.

Zayn looked down, a tear falling down his cheek. Liam felt broken. Still, he forced himself to keep talking through the pain constricting his throat. “Someone will come and love you, okay?” he swore, his eyes looking down to watch their hands clasped. They fit together so perfectly, how could they not be meant to hold each other?

“They’ll be meant for you, and your whole world will light up when they say these words and--” He didn’t mean to do it. He didn’t mean to pry, but his thumb had moved so far up Zayn’s shirt that all of a sudden, the thin black lines of his mark were right there for Liam to see. He knew he was supposed to just look away, or cover them again, Zayn didn’t want anyone to see them after all, but… He couldn’t help it… He saw, and he read, and as soon as his brain registered the words, his voice faded away. Oh. _Oh_.

His head started spinning so fast he felt dizzy. The entire universe disappeared. Every sound around them was dimmed, all he could hear was his pulse, loud in his ears. It wasn’t possible. Those words on Zayn’s skin weren’t possible, but at the same time they made perfect sense. Everything made sense, even if Liam hadn’t connected the dots yet.

Liam knew most times soulmate marks are like puzzle pieces. A question and an answer, a conversation. Zayn’s mark was a perfect match to his own, but it was impossible. That was not their first interaction, those were not their first words.

“Liam?” Zayn’s voice sounded faint and distant. Liam knew he was supposed to answer, go back to what he was saying, but he was too shaken to open his mouth. His mind was going at the speed of light, desperate to understand, to put the pieces together and make them fit. He looked up into Zayn’s eyes, trying to find an answer, trying to make sense of everything.

Suddenly, like conjured up from thin air, a memory showed up in his mind, clear as day, blurring Zayn’s eyes in front of him. He frowned. It was some silly thing from his childhood, and at first he felt utterly confused. Why was he even thinking about it now? He hadn’t thought about that day in years, his mother and sisters had stopped making fun of him for it years ago.

“Liam…” Zayn called him again, but his concerned voice wasn’t enough. He tried to will the thought away, there were more pressing matters at hand, but he just couldn’t. For a second his brain fixated on that memory and he had no choice but to let it happen, closing his eyes, replaying it in his mind.

When it was over, he understood. It clicked. The memory ended with a childish laugh ringing in the air and a pair of warm eyes looking back at him, an indecipherable mix of honey and chocolate and forest green and it clicked

Fuck. Of course. Of fucking course. Everything made perfect sense. Oh god. When he finally managed to focus back on reality, on Zayn’s worried eyes looking at him, the whole world had changed. Every single question he had ever asked himself finally had an answer.

His throat seized up, his heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to blow his chest up. It was an overload of information that revolutionized his entire life in a second and he laughed. He had to. He slapped his free hand across his mouth to keep the exhilarated laughter from exploding but it was impossible.

Zayn frowned, confused. “Liam, what’s going on?” he asked, looking almost offended. Shit… Zayn had every reason to be offended and Liam felt guilty about that but his joy had a point, and soon Zayn would understand too.

“Oh my god,” Liam smiled like a maniac, licking his lips, his eyes never leaving Zayn’s. “This… this memory just came to me, it was the craziest thing,” he began to explain.

Zayn looked puzzled as fuck, but he let Liam speak anyways. “I was like four years old, and my mom needed to go visit our grandma, I think she was ill or something. She took my sisters with her, and she left me with a nanny. Well, it wasn’t an actual nanny, it was the neighbor’s niece. God, I loved her so much, she was awesome, she let me watch TV all day to keep me entertained and she gave me a ton of chocolate. Of course my mom never called her again because I got sick from all the chocolate, so sick I spent years without eating any.” Liam laughed again, but Zayn didn’t look amused at all.

“Liam, what the fuck,” he complained, his free hand hurriedly wiping unshed tears from his eyelashes. “Why are you telling me this?” he pleaded, desperately begging for an explanation, and Liam just smiled at him.

“Let me finish, please,” he begged. Zayn’s eyebrows made an even tighter knot on his forehead. Fuck. “Sorry, sorry… It’s just… What I wanted to say was that the reason I remember that day wasn’t the chocolate, really, even though my entire family made fun of me for that for years. It’s something else,” Liam smiled, biting his lip, excited.

Zayn impatiently gestured at him to keep going, and he obeyed without thinking, eager to get to the point. “The girl… The nanny? She brought her little brother with her because she had nowhere to leave him. I remember he was a bit younger than me, super shy but incredibly sweet, and I felt so happy and excited when I finally managed to convince him to play with me. We played all day long and I hated it when mom came back and they had to go,” he explained, sudden tears welling up in his eyes, the feelings from that day somehow ridiculously fresh in his mind even though he hadn’t gone back to that memory in forever.

Zayn tilted his head to the side, like he was trying to connect the dots too, failing miserably. “What does that have to do with anything?” he asked, understandably frustrated, making Liam laugh again. He knew he sounded insane. They were discussing something incredibly important just a minute before and then Liam went completely off track, getting lost in a seemingly unrelated tale, making no sense at all.

“It has everything to do with everything, Z…” he promised, sighing, taking a step closer to Zayn. “You see, I haven’t thought about that day in years. I don’t remember the boy’s name, I never saw him again. I only remember being so sad, so so sad, I cried my eyes out when the boy left. I remember begging my mom to bring him back, I wanted to play with him again,” he smiled through the painful lingering feeling, knowing there was something amazing on the other side.

“I didn’t really remember why he made me so happy, why I wanted him back so bad. Until tonight.” The simple declaration sounded solemn and important, charging the air around them with an undeniable electricity as Liam took Zayn’s marked hand and put it between them, wrist up, skin exposed. Then he put his own hand next to Zayn’s, slowly uncovering his mark.

Every single thing that Liam never understood about his life, about soulmates, about fate and loneliness and love, suddenly made sense as he stared at their marks, together. Two parts of a conversation, a game he had played decades ago with a boy he never saw again, or so he thought.

Zayn’s loud gasp made his belly swoop. He felt weightless, floating, not even bothering to fight back tears anymore. “I didn’t really remember what game we played, or how I convinced him to play with me, until tonight. The boy was a bit scared, I think, he was covering his eyes to hide from the world, and now I remember… I remember I tickled him softly, saying ‘peekaboo’ at him, over and over again, until he laughed and uncovered his eyes, saying ‘I see you’,” Liam explained, his voice breaking.

“I don’t remember that,” Zayn confessed, his soft voice as broken as Liam’s. Liam exhaled, his eyes still fixated on their first words to each other.

Zayn understood, Zayn had finally connected the dots. He didn’t remember, but he got it, and every single fiber in Liam’s being shivered at that realization. They both finally got it. “I didn’t remember either. We were too little when we met, that’s why—” Fuck, it hurt so much, thinking about it. “That’s why they never showed up. It was us, it was always us, but we had met already, when we were kids, too young to know,” It hurt, thinking they had lost years and years of being together, just because they had met way before they were supposed to.

Zayn stayed silent for a long moment, staring at their hands, until he finally reacted in a flurry of movement. His hand disappeared from Liam’s view only to go around him. In a second, he was between Liam’s arms, holding him so tight Liam could barely breathe. Not that he needed to. Fuck air. Fuck life, fuck everything. Everything but the man in his arms. His love. His soulmate.

Liam fell apart as he held on for dear life. One sob followed another and before they could even say another word, they both broke down in a million pieces in each other’s arms. There was too much loneliness accumulated, too much sadness, too much time lost.

For a moment it felt like mourning, like trying to process the fact that it was over, fighting in silence to let go of a lifetime of suffering and an entire year of frustration, all because fate decided to keep them apart for over three decades.

Liam could’ve stayed there. He could’ve spent hours screaming at the sky, cursing, crying, hating the cards life dealt them. He sure had so much pain bottled inside he felt like he could explode in a rage and set the world on fire, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t because a moment before he felt like breaking into a million pieces, but now… feeling safe in Zayn’s arms made him feel like he was being put back together, like nothing was ever broken.

Nothing mattered. Nothing at all. All those years alone, all the waiting, all the pain… Nothing mattered because for the first time in his life he was whole. He was not just a half, wandering the world all by himself. He was whole, and that man he inexplicably wished was his was actually his soulmate, and he was in his arms, and everything was perfect.

Just like that he let go of everything. Everything. All the pain, the loneliness, the rage, the sadness… Finally being in Zayn’s arms felt like purification, his tears going from bitter and sad to relieved and joyous. He held Zayn tighter, laughing, hiding in his neck. He felt Zayn laughing too, vibrating against his chest.

His fingers got lost in Zayn’s hair, calming, comforting them both. God, he was real. He was real and he was really here. Smiling so hard it hurt he kissed his head, his temple, his forehead, his lips moving as Zayn lifted his head from Liam’s chest. Oh god, his entire body felt on fire when his kisses reached Zayn’s cheek, but then they got nowhere.

Zayn killed Liam’s anticipation, moving away to look at him. He smiled that soft, dorky smile Liam loved so much, and Liam melted. Somehow, he looked even more gorgeous like that, with his eyes red and his face puffy from crying happy tears. Liam smiled too, positively giddy. Almost at the same time they tried to wipe each other’s tears, which of course prompted another fit of giggles from the both of them.

“Hi,” Liam whispered when they finally managed to calm down, holding each other again. His eyes stayed on Zayn’s, hypnotized. Fuck, those eyes. Those same indecipherable eyes from his memory. It was the same shy boy in front of him, the same laughter, and definitely the same happiness in his heart.

Zayn bit his lip, his eyelashes still sparkling with tears. “Hey, you,” he replied with a tiny sigh. God, he was so beautiful Liam felt like crying all over again. Zayn was made of every single thing Liam liked, every single thing that made him happy, every single thing that turned him on. He was perfect. He was heaven. Liam had no idea how he was supposed to go on with life when he could just stay right where he was, in Zayn’s arms. Good news was he could. He totally could. He had every right to stay by Zayn’s side for fucking ever.

“You know, when I was younger and I felt alone, my mom would show me my mark and promise me the day would come when the love of my life would show up, and they would finally ‘see me’,” Liam remembered, sniffling. “I’m so glad it was you,” he whispered. Everything made sense, right? God, they fell in love with each other way before they knew of their connection, it was that inevitable, that meant to be.

Zayn took Liam’s face in his hands with so much care it filled Liam’s belly with butterflies, his thumbs following the path the tears had left on his cheeks. “I see you…” he repeated, like all those years ago. “I always saw you, from the first second. Back when we were little and back when I entered your office, but especially right now,” he whispered, his forehead resting on Liam’s, his sweet breath making him tremble.

Liam closed his eyes, overwhelmed. “I love you,” he declared, bringing Zayn even closer to him with his arms tightly secured around him. It felt like such a huge declaration but he didn’t even have to think about it. It was natural, it felt right. “I’ve loved you both times I met you, but especially right now…” he smiled, opening his eyes again to find Zayn smiling too. “God, I’m so glad you’re really mine,” he whispered, feeling like crying all over again.

“I am. Yours, all yours,” Zayn promised. They belonged to each other, they really did. Liam was not even close to being able to really process that. He was right. Those things he felt for Zayn weren’t desperation or settling for whoever was available. Those feelings were real, their hearts knew that way before they did. “I love you too, Liam, so much,” and yeah, Liam was dying.

He turned his head to the side just a bit, just enough to guide his lips to Zayn’s wrist, kissing his mark. “You’ll never have to wonder again what I’m doing, or if I’m thinking of you. You’ll know. I’ll be right here, for you, all the time,” he promised with his entire soul.

Zayn laughed, and instead of making a promise of his own, he just leaned forward and kissed Liam. Fuck. Oh fuck. The world exploded when their lips met, metaphorically and literally. Fireworks went off both in their sky and in Liam’s entire body.

Oh, there it was. That feeling. That magical feeling people tried to describe in vain, because there were no words to explain it. It went beyond the intimacy of a kiss, the pleasure of a mouth. It was the deepest connection, pure undiluted love, effectively erasing decades of loneliness in a second.

It was exactly every single thing Liam dreamed of. It was exactly what he wanted, exactly the reason why he waited and waited and waited some more. It was worth every second, oh god. The softness of Zayn’s lips, the tiny sounds of satisfaction coming from his throat, the feeling that his entire soul was being set on fire. It was everything, and yeah, by the time Zayn’s lips left his, Liam was crying again.

“We suck,” he exhaled, giggling with his eyes still closed, his lips searching for Zayn’s again. “Now we ruined the only face-slobbering free place in the building,” he observed, making Zayn laugh against his mouth.

“Gross… So gross,” Zayn complained, faking disgust, planting little kisses all over Liam’s face. “What is it about the holidays?” he asked when he managed to stay away from Liam long enough to speak.

“Mmmm… No idea,” Liam moaned in reply, softly grazing Zayn’s mouth. “But now we have all the time in the world to find out,” he promised, getting lost in his soulmate again.

 

 


End file.
